BHOPAL: In a suspected case of honour killing, a 19-year-old Class XII student was allegedly shot dead inside her home and her body allegedly dumped in the Kuwari river in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district.
Divya Sikarwar, who belonged to a caste Hindu Kshatriya family, was reportedly shot in the head at her home in Shiv Nagar on the night of September 24. According to reports she is believed to have had a friendship with a youth from a backward caste.
Morena district police received a call on Saturday reporting the girl’s disappearance and possible killing. A team questioned Divya’s parents, while her younger brother and sister, both minors, are reported missing.
The parents repeatedly changed their statements, initially claiming she died after coming in contact with a ceiling fan and later suggesting suicide.
Police subsequently took Divya’s father, Bharat Sikarwar, to the Kuwari river near their native village under Bagchini police station, about 30 km from Morena city. He admitted transporting the body in a car, covering it with a plastic sheet, tying a stone to it, and dumping it in the river.
“The search operations started on Saturday evening but were halted due to darkness. They resumed on Sunday morning, and within a few hours the partially decomposed body was recovered, tied to a stone in the river,” Morena district police superintendent Samir Saurabh told TNIE on Sunday.
He added: “As the body is partially decomposed, the autopsy will be conducted in Gwalior on Monday, and a detailed forensic opinion will be taken there. Our experts, who examined the body, strongly suspect the girl was shot at point-blank range. An inquest of unnatural death has been registered, and a murder case will be lodged based on autopsy findings.”
Sources familiar with the investigation said the case points to a possible honour killing, noting that the weapon remains untraced, the siblings are missing, and the parents have been inconsistent in their statements. Divya’s relationship with a youth from a backward caste is being considered a possible motive.
Honour killings over inter-caste relationships are not uncommon in MP’s Gwalior-Chambal region, bordering Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.
In June 2025, Sirnam Singh was arrested for allegedly killing his Class XI granddaughter Malishkha in Morena over her inter-caste relationship.
In January 2025, 20-year-old Tanu Gurjar was shot dead by her father and cousin brother in Gwalior after refusing an arranged marriage.
In June 2023, a young girl and her partner were murdered by her father and their bodies dumped in the Chambal river in Morena.